South's SOAP for the Day
S-Read Mark 6:1-13.
O-Jesus was amazed at the people’s lack of faith, so he could not do miracles in his hometown.
A-Just like your faith can cause miracles, as seen yesterday, your lack of faith can prevent miracles. What type of faith does your life reflect?
P-Pray once again that God will bolster your faith.
Think about the people you have met in the last few years. Who in those people was the average status quo person? This is the person you know who you don't expect to become anything. They continue on doing what they've always been doing. Imagine if you found out that this person had then become something more. Would you be shocked? Would you question the source of the info and not believe that this person has become something? This is what is going on in our passage today.
Jesus has lived his first 30 years of life in Galilee, in his home town. He's grown up learning his father's trade. He is probably known as Joseph's son, the carpenter, which in that day could have meant anything from a cabinet maker, a house builder, to a stone mason. He's the son of a construction worker who has become a construction worker.
Mark's gospel begins with Jesus leaving his home and his profession to proclaim the good news that the Kingdom of God has come near. And over the last two and a half weeks, we have read and reflected on this new journey. A journey where Jesus commands power over the sick and demon possessed. We've read about him calm the wind and the waves. We've even read about him bringing Jairus' daughter back to life. These are amazing things. Jesus has authority over the spiritual realm. As a bearer of the Kingdom of God, life for those who come in contact with him becomes different. That is, until he returns to his hometown.
As we read in the story, Jesus shows up in his home town, goes to the synagogue on the Sabbath, and begins to teach, just like he has in earlier stories. The response of the people, though is much different. While they are amazed, they begin questioning. "We know this boy. He built my uncle's house down the street a few years ago. What has happened to him? How did he get to be this smart?"
I wonder what type of skepticism began to seep into the people at the synagogue that day. He was your average, run of the mill boy who grew up and learned the family trade. There's no way he could have become this smart or achieved this so quickly. Maybe they think that since he's become who he is he is talking down to them? I don't fully know. What we do know is that their amazement in verse 2 is quickly soured and gone by verse 3.
What strikes me the most is the influence of the community's disbelief on what Jesus could or could not do miracle wise in his home town. There can be two answers. One, the people simply didn't believe he could do such miracles, so they didn't bring their sick and demon possessed to him. Or, their lack of faith directly limited what the Kingdom of God could do.
To me, the second makes more sense. I've seen it in my own life. God can do miracles with things, depending on how we choose to respond. I've seen marriages that were in total ruins restored because both sides were willing to trust that God could do something more and rebuild what was lost. At the same time, I've seen marriages that were in ruins, totally destroyed because one side or the other chose to fully give up on the situation.
We saw this in yesterdays passage. The faith of both the woman who was bleeding and Jairus came into play. Had they not had faith that Jesus could change their current situations (bleeding and sickness) they would have never approached him to intervene. Their faith drew him in, so to speak.
This makes me wonder...how engaged is God with us right now because of our faith? Am I living on the knife's edge so that God has to be there also? Or, am I doing what I am doing out of routine, experience, and my own power? Is this how we are living as a church right now? Even more, if I can't come up with a solid answer of yes, we are living on the good edge of faith, then what questions do we need to be asking so that we can move in that direction? How do we step all in?
Lord, help us to be honest with ourselves. Help us to reflect on these hard questions. Give us wisdom and insight as we ponder. Help us to see the path that you want us to live, so that we can be bearers of your Good News!
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